Tag: Aaron Rice
Underground Echoes: Aaron Rice: The final chapter (1880-1906)
By JOSEPH & JUDIE PALMER Martinez Gazette Contributors From our last column, we discovered Aaron had siblings. Although his sister Judy Schlesher (58) was never found, (nor could we find any record of her) his older brother William (62) and family, were located living in McKinney, Collin County, Texas. We additionally found them enumerated in […]
Underground Echoes: Family: Love, loss & found
By JOSEPH & JUDIE PALMER Special to the Gazette When we last left Aaron and his family, they were living blissfully. They had become in a relative short period: property owners, industrious entrepreneurs, founders of Napa’s AME Church, ardent voters and proud US citizens. As proof of their accomplishments an announcement published in the Napa […]
Underground Echoes: Life on the family farm: Aaron Rice (1860-1871)
By JOSEPH & JUDIE PALMER Special to the Gazette Picking up Aaron’s story from where we left off, William Rice still had custody of Nathaniel while the rest of his family was free. They finally get to celebrate the holidays without following someone else’s rules. This included their first ever Thanksgiving as it was not […]
The move to California: Aaron Rice (1819-1860)
By JOSEPH & JUDIE PALMER Martinez Gazette Contributors We apologize for not writing since last May, but circumstances arose that put our column on hold. In celebration of Black History Month, we wanted to complete Aaron Rice’s story. However due to the time gap, we thought it best to summarize his saga in a few […]
Underground Echoes: Aaron Rice (1819 – 1906) – Probate 101
By JOSEPH & JUDIE PALMER Special to the Gazette From our last column, we wrote about Aaron’s horrible heartbreak with the loss of his entire family outside of his son Nathaniel in less than a year. It started with the death of his father Rev. Robert Rice (75) on March 20, 1875 from dropsy. Followed […]
Underground Echoes: From sorrow to joy
By JOSEPH & JUDIE PALMER Special to the Gazette In our last installment it stated on November 14, 1872, the Rice family grew when Aaron’s 26-year-old son Nathaniel married 18-year-old Rebecca Donzel with no family members present. Also mentioned in an announcement regarding churches on March 18, 1871 published in the Napa County Recorder, Rev. […]
Underground Echoes: Rice’s grow in Napa
By JOSEPH & JUDIE PALMER Special to the Gazette To recap Aaron Rice and his family’s story since they gained their freedom, we created a list of the important events we have covered to date. We started with their first Holidays as free people in 1860, the loss of their son Lewis in 1862, the […]
Underground Echoes: Citizenship finally acquired
By JOSEPH & JUDIE PALMER Special to the Gazette Picking up where we left off with Aaron Rice’s story, we had discussed how he and his family along with others had founded the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Not only did it serve as a place for worship, but it also served as their community center […]
